Justus_AkinsanyaProfessor Justus A Akinsanya

BSc (Hons) PhD RN BTA Cert ONC (Hons) RNT FRCN FWACN FRSH FRIPH

Justus Akinsanya was known to nurses worldwide for his work as a human biologist, nurse educator and researcher. After retiring, he held a number of “new wave” posts at the frontline of nursing development during his career in the UK and Africa. Sadly, Justus died aged 69 in August 2005 after contracting an infection at the International Council of Nurses conference in Taiwan earlier in the year.

Justus qualified in 1960 as a nurse in tuberculosis and general nursing, then encouraged in these specialisms by Cynthia Yolanda Marcelle, his wife, completed post-registration courses in orthopaedic, dermatological and psychiatric nursing. He entered the University of London where he obtained a BSc(Hons) degree in Human Biology followed by a PhD.

He was best known for the ‘Akinsanya model of bionursing’ (1985), which he defined as clinical nursing that uses in practice the principles of natural sciences such as biology. He hoped that the future of nursing would see a truly multidisciplinary team emerge to provide quality care to clients and patients in all settings.

As an academic in higher education, he held positions as a teacher, administrator and researcher before becoming Reader and later Professor and Head of the Health Care Research Unit at the Dorset Institute, now Bournemouth University. He subsequently took up the post of Dean of the newly created Faculty of Health and Social Work at Anglia Polytechnic University, the first nurse to be appointed to such a post in the UK. He was made an Emeritus Professor on retirement in 1996.

After retiring, Justus devoted his time to the charitable activities of Disability Croydon, Nurses Fund for Nurses and the Nigerian Council of Elders, and served as a local education authority (LEA) governor of two schools in Croydon.

Publications

Justus Akinsanya co-authored five books and contributed numerous papers to journals dating back to the 1970s. He served on the editorial boards of three international nursing journals and was a regular speaker at national and international conferences. Among his later publications:

  • Akinsanya, JA (1996) On being a patient, Journal of Advanced Nursing, 23 (6), pp. 1065-1070.
  • Akinsanya, JA (1994) Commitment to nursing: the quest for quality education and practice, Journal of Advanced Nursing, 20 (6), pp. 983-985.
    http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1365-2648.1994.20060983.x
  • Akinsanya, JA (1994) Making research useful to the practicing nurse, Journal of Advanced Nursing, 19 (1), pp. 174-179.
  • Akinsanya, J (1993) Preparation of nurses teachers: a rethink, Nursing Standard, 8 (5), pp. 28-30.
  • Akinsanya, J (1992) Nurses fear contact with HIV-infected patients, British Journal of Nursing, 1 (2), p. 63.
  • Akinsanya, JA and Rouse, P (1992) Who will care? A survey of the knowledge and attitudes of hospital nurses to people with HIV/AIDS, 17 (3), pp.400-401.
  • Akinsanya, J (1992) The quest for quality, Nursing, 5 (1), pp. 8-10.
  • Akinsanya, J (1991) Stop taking the medicine, Nursing Standard, 5 (45), pp. 55-56.
  • Akinsanya, J (1990) Education: tokenism in nursing, Nursing Standard, 5 (13-14), p. 48.
  • Akinsanya, J (1990) Future hiding in the present, Nursing Standard, 5 (6 supplement), pp. 13-15.
  • Akinsanya, JA (1990) The nursing management of elderly people with pain in the community: study and recommendations, Nursing Standard, 5 (10), pp. 1154-1161.
  • Akinsanya, J (1990) Educational glasnost, Nursing Standard, 4 (39), p. 55.
  • Akinsanya, JA (1990) Nursing links with higher education: a prescription for change in the 21st century, Journal of Advanced Nursing, 15 (6), pp. 744-754.
  • Akinsanya, J (1990) A climate of change – part 1, Nursing Standard, 4 (33), pp. 32-34.
  • Akinsanya, J (1990) Education: a climate for change – part 2, Nursing Standard, 4 (34), pp. 24-25.
  • Akinsanya, JA (1990) The Commonwealth Nurses’ Federation: a force for worldwide professional strength, Journal of Advanced Nursing, 15 (3), pp. 245-246.
  • Akinsanya, J (1990) A royal commission for the year 2000? Nursing Standard, 4 (22), p. 27.
  • Akinsanya, J (1990) Project 2000: the reflective practitioner – is help at hand? Nursing Standard, 4 (20), pp. 33-34.